3 FILMS THAT ‘ALMOST HUMAN’

Sci-fi movies, TV and books usually resemble previous futuristic works, because we already recognize the common elements. Robots, neon lights, high-tech gadgets, sterile environments: these are just some of the traits that make the sci-fi genre. Almost Human has displayed all of those traits, but some stand out more than others.

Almost Human borrows from some of the best sci-fi films to form an enjoyable, cohesive TV series that is just getting started.

Blade Runner

Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) must retire replicants, which are basically robots who look like and behave like humans. In Almost Human, Michael Ealy plays Dorian, a unique android brought out of retirement to work with Karl Urban's Det. John Kennex. Dorian isn't like the standard robots in Almost Human. He has emotions similar to a human and can think unlike the typical cyborg. Dorian would be the type of specimen Deckard would hunt in Blade Runner. Also, the dark slums littered with neon signs everywhere in the first episode of Almost Human resemble an environment in Blade Runner.

Robocop

Although Det. Kennex isn't a souped-up man-machine, the beginning ofAlmost Human basically copies the beginning of Robocop. Kennex is ambushed by bad guys just like Alex Murphy (Peter Weller). Kennex is out of it for a while and then teams up Dorian. Together, they form an interesting duo the same way Robocop and Anne Lewis do. Lewis is kind of useless, no? Then again, Robocop is slow as hell, so someone has to do the ground work. Neither Dorian nor Kennex possess mega powers, but their combination forms a much more potent force than any other cops on Almost Human.

I, Robot

It wouldn't be a sci-fi universe without some robotic add-on to a human. In this case, Kennex has a prosthetic leg, to replace the one he lost when a grenade literally blows it off in the first scene of the series. In I, Robot, Will Smith plays Del Spooner, a Chicago cop who has a fake arm. The fake arm has its advantages. It easily punches opposing robots in the face. And it saves the day when Spooner slides down a gigantic computer core by sticking his arm into the core itself; a human arm could do no such thing. Will Kennex's leg save him? Spooner, much like Kennex, seems to be the only one doing some gritty police work. Yes, they are the main characters, however, out in the field, it would be nice to have some backup. Kennex has Dorian, Spooner was usually on his own.